Writing Contest

“Giving Youth a Voice” – ICTs for rural youth livelihoods in ACP countries

Announcement of winners

Will Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) change life in the rural areas of countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP)? Will they make village life more attractive for young people? Or are they just not appropriate, too expensive, or not available at all?

178 young people from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific shared their vision of an ICT-enabled future in the rural areas of ACP countries in a writing contest organised by CTA. They wrote about the potential of ICTs in giving youth a voice, in achieving employment, health services, market information, and entertainment, but also about the challenges in accessing and utilizing ICTs for young people. Some described their dreams, while others told us about their actual situations and the projects or activities in which ICTs were helping young people to improve their lives.

These young people are students, journalists, project officers, farmers, volunteers, NGO workers, or youth group leaders. They are between 18 and 30 years old, and they live in places as diverse as the booming city of Lagos in Nigeria; the highlands of Eastern Africa; the islands of the Pacific and the Caribbean; and the desert of Mauritania.

They all had a story to tell and a message to share, so making a selection was very difficult. An international jury of CTA staff and external experts selected 3 “Grand Prize” winners, 7 “runners-up” and 10 honourable mentions.

The winners

Grand Prize
Participation in CTA’s ICT Observatory meeting on “Giving Youth a Voice”, to take place in Wageningen, The Netherlands, from 27-30 September 2004

• Haru Mutasa (South Africa / Zimbabwe)
• Joy Olivier (South Africa)
• Lucia Chebett Laboso/Kiplangat (Kenya)

Runners-up

• Terri Henry (Dominica)
• Kuntai Thomas Karmushu (Kenya)
• Sabina Mutangadura (Zimbabwe)
• Nelisiwe Mbali Mtsweni (South Africa)
• Tariya Saraouta Yusuf (Nigeria)
• O'Neil St Aubyn Simpson (Jamaica)
• Kofi Mangesi (Ghana)

Each will receive a subscription to CTA’s Publication Distribution Service on behalf of the organisation/project as well as a one-time additional allocation of 1,000 credit points which can be used to order publications from CTA’s catalogue.

Honorable mentions

• Casius Chuma (Zambia)
• Fawole Emmanuel Akintunde (Nigeria)
• Collins Kuanguen (Cameroon)
• Rosalia Omungo (Kenya)
• Abigail Fanepluw (Federated States of Micronesia)
• André A. Britz (South Africa)
• Bennett Kankuzi (Malawi)
• Charles Makanga Sendegeya (Uganda)
• Angela Josiah (Sierra Leone)
• Mbiydzenyuy David Wan-Tangwa (Cameroon)

Each will receive a subscription to CTA’s Publication Distribution Service on behalf of the organisation/project, project as well as a one-time additional allocation of 200 credit points which can be used to order publications from CTA’s catalogue.

All winning entries will be published on CTA ’s website in the near future.

Credit points are used by CTA to distribute publications to ACP stakeholders. For more information on the Publication Distribution Service, please see http://www.cta.int/about/orderpub.htm.